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How to write a letter
Writing Letters is a form of writing that people use in order to communicate non verbally to each other. The job of the letter is to communicate with another person that is not within verbal communication. Letters now are found more in the forms of Letters of Recommendation or other official documents instead of their traditional use as just to communicate with another person that lived far away. Parts to a Formal Business Letter There are eight important parts to writing a letter: Sender's Address, Date, Inside Address, Salutation, Body, and Closing Sender's Address The Sender's address is the address of the author who wrote the letter. The Sender's address is located in the top right hand corner of the paper. The Sender's Address should only include the street address, city, and zip code.https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/653/02/ Example of Sender's address: 900 Oakwood St. Ypsilanti, Michigan 48197 Date The date is the time at which the letter is written, or if the letter is written over a period of days it should be the date of which the letter is completed. https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/653/02/ The date however can be written on either the left or right side of the paper under the Sender's Address. The date should also be written in the form that the country uses of which the country the letter is destined to go.https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/653/01/ Inside Address The Inside Address is the address of which the author is writing the letter to. This address should start one line underneath the Sender's Address or one inch below the date and should always be left justified.https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/653/01/ It should include a person's name of which the author is trying to contact. To address the contact, the author should use the person's title followed by their last name. If the letter's recipient resides within the United States, the address should use the U.S. Post Office Format, but the recipient resides outside of the United States, the letter should have the address with the name of the country in capital letters on the bottom line of the address. Salutations The salutation uses the same name as the Inside Address. The salutation is started with the person's title, which is followed by their last name. The author may use the person's first name if they know the recipient and they address the recipient by their first instead of last. If the author does not know the person they should use a title that is nonsexist to address the recipient. The salutation should be followed by a colon and a blank space between the salutation and the body of the letter. Body The body of the letter is similar to that of an essay. It is set up in paragraphs normally with an opening paragraph that outlines what the letter is and its purpose. Followed by body paragraphs that go into detail what the letter is about with evidence and/or reasons. Finished with a closing paragraph that sums up the main points of the letter and is followed by the author's closing. Closing The closing should should have the first word capitalized, be one line under the final paragraph, and lined up with the date. The closing is followed by a coma and four lines with the Author's name after the fourth blank line. This is to leave room for the author's signature. Some examples of closings include: -Thank you -Yours truly -Sincerelyhttp://www.letterwritingguide.com/howtowritealetter.htm Common Abbreviations in Letters These are some common Abbreviations used in letters: -ASAP: As soon as possible -cc: Carbon copy (the Author uses this abbreviation to tell the recipient that there is more than one copy of the letter sent to more than one person.) -enc.:enclosure (there are other papers included in the letter) -pp:per procurationem (Latin phrase that tells the recipient that the person signing the letter is signing it on someone else's behalf) -ps: postscript (author adds something after they signed the letter) -RSVP: Please Replyhttp://www.usingenglish.com/resources/letter-writing.php# References